Diabetes and anxiety :(

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Anxiety is what makes us human, really dont think anyone is immune from it. Diabetes anxiety is certainly normal so your or alone my friend.
 
What made injecting publicly easier for me was going on the DAFNE course. Prior to that I had only injected in front of my partner or close family. the two young girls on the course were amazingly open about injecting in front of everyone else and that really helped to break the ice and soon we were all injecting in front of each other for our lunch every day for a week and it became normal, because we were all injecting. It just seemed like a natural progression to continue that regime into the everyday world.
I have to say, I found the DAFNE course a huge confidence booster in a lot of respects.... dealing with hypos, adjusting my basal insulin and generally becoming "the expert" in my diabetes. It helped that I went into the course already having learned an enormous amount from this course, but spending a week with other Type 1s and learning how different we all are was a real eye opener and gave us the knowledge and tools and strategies to handle a whole raft of everyday situations.

I am a little bit the other way as regards hypos, the more I have the more confident I am about my ability to treat them. That sounds a bit blaze and I don't intend it to be and I certainly do my best to prevent them but I average about one a day according to my Libre (which exaggerates somewhat 🙄) so I don't think it is quite that bad but maybe 3-5 a week proper ones. The first few when I was relatively newly diagnosed seemed pretty horrendous but I think part of that was my body and mind panicking. Now I don't panic, I just treat them and usually carry on what I am doing. I used to really worry about nocturnal hypos and it affected my sleep quite badly. Once I had a few and realised that I wake up OK and just like daytime ones I manage to treat them fine I no longer panic or worry about them. If they happen I can deal with them. I have hypo treatments on the bedside cabinet withoin reach and my Libre is under my pillow and my my test kit is in my back pack handbag by the bed. I had 2 very minor ones last night. The second probably not quite a hypo as I finger pricked it at 4.1. I reduced my basal dose by 5.5 units before bed last night, down to 0 ie I didn't take any Levemir because I had done a lot of exercise during the day, but I knew I was still likely to hypo even though I went to bed on a nice steady 6.9. My insulin needs are very variable. I dropped straight back off to sleep on both occasions after my hypo treatments and didn't even need to put the light on or sit up in bed.
I am not sure if this is good, but I personally prefer it to the fear I had before.
 
rebrascora said:
What made injecting publicly easier for me was going on the DAFNE course. Prior to that I had only injected in front of my partner or close family. the two young girls on the course were amazingly open about injecting in front of everyone else and that really helped to break the ice and soon we were all injecting in front of each other for our lunch every day for a week and it became normal, because we were all injecting. It just seemed like a natural progression to continue that regime into the everyday world.
I have to say, I found the DAFNE course a huge confidence booster in a lot of respects.... dealing with hypos, adjusting my basal insulin and generally becoming "the expert" in my diabetes. It helped that I went into the course already having learned an enormous amount from this course, but spending a week with other Type 1s and learning how different we all are was a real eye opener and gave us the knowledge and tools and strategies to handle a whole raft of everyday situations.

I am a little bit the other way as regards hypos, the more I have the more confident I am about my ability to treat them. That sounds a bit blaze and I don't intend it to be and I certainly do my best to prevent them but I average about one a day according to my Libre (which exaggerates somewhat 🙄) so I don't think it is quite that bad but maybe 3-5 a week proper ones. The first few when I was relatively newly diagnosed seemed pretty horrendous but I think part of that was my body and mind panicking. Now I don't panic, I just treat them and usually carry on what I am doing. I used to really worry about nocturnal hypos and it affected my sleep quite badly. Once I had a few and realised that I wake up OK and just like daytime ones I manage to treat them fine I no longer panic or worry about them. If they happen I can deal with them. I have hypo treatments on the bedside cabinet withoin reach and my Libre is under my pillow and my my test kit is in my back pack handbag by the bed. I had 2 very minor ones last night. The second probably not quite a hypo as I finger pricked it at 4.1. I reduced my basal dose by 5.5 units before bed last night, down to 0 ie I didn't take any Levemir because I had done a lot of exercise during the day, but I knew I was still likely to hypo even though I went to bed on a nice steady 6.9. My insulin needs are very variable. I dropped straight back off to sleep on both occasions after my hypo treatments and didn't even need to put the light on or sit up in bed.
I am not sure if this is good, but I personally prefer it to the fear I had before.
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3-5 proper hypos is fair amount mind rebrassco & could lead to hypo unawareness, dont know if you use libre 2 but try setting low alarm higher to give you advanced warning, own is set for 4.8 & not had hypo for weeks.
 
Sorry to hear about your struggles with anxiety @sg295

A diagnosis with diabetes can have a big impact emotionally and psychologically, and people react in different ways, but feelings of worry, fear, sadness, embarrassment and awkwardness with all the new routines are really common.

Hopefully comparing notes here with us old hands will help put your mind at rest, and give you some reassurance, options and strategies you might try.

It WILL get easier 🙂
 
nonethewiser said:
3-5 proper hypos is fair amount mind rebrassco & could lead to hypo unawareness, dont know if you use libre 2 but try setting low alarm higher to give you advanced warning, own is set for 4.8 & not had hypo for weeks.
Click to expand...
I just have regular Libre, so no alarms. My basal needs change significantly day to day. For instance I was on 5.5 units of Levemir a few nights ago but after a particularly physical day, I reduced my evening dose to zero and still had a double dip hypo through the night. Next night I increased it by 3.5 units as I wasn't quite so active and got it absolutely spot on, but there is a lot of guesswork and intuition involved. This is the reason I would never manage with Tresiba and love my Levemir as it allows me so much flexibility.
Thankfully my hypo awareness is very good even in my sleep. I appreciate that may not always be the case, but I do the best I can in adjusting my doses to try to keep the ship as level as I can.
 
rebrascora said:
I just have regular Libre, so no alarms. My basal needs change significantly day to day. For instance I was on 5.5 units of Levemir a few nights ago but after a particularly physical day, I reduced my evening dose to zero and still had a double dip hypo through the night. Next night I increased it by 3.5 units as I wasn't quite so active and got it absolutely spot on, but there is a lot of guesswork and intuition involved. This is the reason I would never manage with Tresiba and love my Levemir as it allows me so much flexibility.
Thankfully my hypo awareness is very good even in my sleep. I appreciate that may not always be the case, but I do the best I can in adjusting my doses to try to keep the ship as level as I can.
Click to expand...

Right pain at times diabetes, it's like your pancreas is randomly spitting out insulin , does happen in early years as many of us know.

Pump would be better option for you, really can fine tune basal input using one, as for libre get yourself 2 version, well worth it even just for alarms.

Example this week been dropping low on mornings, thought first day was one off but continues for few more despite basal rate reductions, luckily alarm on libre alerted me everytime well before hypos happened, so useful to have.

Still adjusting basal rates even today, odd as this time of year basal needs are more, less in summer, hard to figure out sometimes & can see why conditions causes anxiety. Take care my friend.
 
@sg295 don't feel like you're a failure. You're not! There is so much to take in initially, i'm a few years into it now but still learning. What works some days may not work others. I, too, used to worry about hypos and hypers but now just deal with them as best as i can, and come on this forum to have a moan when it gets too much. Everyone on here knows how it feels. I once said to a DSN that i felt a failure when my BS goes out of target. Her reply was "Why? Its a fact of t1 that you'll have them and you're dealing with them. No one can be perfect all of the time. There are too many things that can affect it".

I used to try and go somewhere private to inject when i first started going out. Then one day i just thought, why should I, its nothing to be ashamed of? Initially if out i would choose somewhere to sit where i could inject discreetly at the table eg a corner seat but now i'll openly inject in public if needed. If others don't like it, tough, its a case of having to do it.

I am more aware of where i inject at work as i work with small children, even though they don't react when my libre alarm goes off (now i've explained it). At work, most staff know i'm t1 and know where my hypo treatments and snacks are if they ever needed to get them. I also make sure i have dextrose or JBs on or near me at all times.

It does take time to get used to but eventually you will get used to injecting around family and friends.
 
nonethewiser said:
Right pain at times diabetes, it's like your pancreas is randomly spitting out insulin , does happen in early years as many of us know.

Pump would be better option for you, really can fine tune basal input using one, as for libre get yourself 2 version, well worth it even just for alarms.

Example this week been dropping low on mornings, thought first day was one off but continues for few more despite basal rate reductions, luckily alarm on libre alerted me everytime well before hypos happened, so useful to have.

Still adjusting basal rates even today, odd as this time of year basal needs are more, less in summer, hard to figure out sometimes & can see why conditions causes anxiety. Take care my friend.
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Hi, thank you for this message!

Yeah I honestly wonder if that happens sometimes, like I will randomly go low with no obvious reason.

I have just had a hypo now (but only a very mild one I’m pleased to say and have treated it) and not entirely sure why. Although I have barely eaten today so could be the culprit! All I’ve had is a couple of pieces of toast all day which probably isn’t enough and then did some dancing around as well! Just been so busy and got distracted haha!

I have just been reading this message to someone else but I feel like this applies to me too and I honestly think a pump would suit me a million times better. It would enable me to fine tune things much more to stop me crashing after certain things and having these what I call ‘second spikes’ after other things where the amount I’ve taken doesn’t seem to contain it. I also think it would massively improve my confidence, mental health, self-esteem, social life, quality of life and career due to the fact that injections are severely negatively impacting all of these areas at the moment!

However, because I’m fairly new to it all (only 8 months in) and don’t explicitly meet the NICE criteria, I feel I may struggle to get one potentially? Still doesn’t hurt to ask I guess and see what happens.

I’m sorry to hear of your struggles! But equally it’s reassuring to know that this is really hard to deal with sometimes and unpredictable!

Thanks again and take care 🙂
 
freesia said:
@sg295 don't feel like you're a failure. You're not! There is so much to take in initially, i'm a few years into it now but still learning. What works some days may not work others. I, too, used to worry about hypos and hypers but now just deal with them as best as i can, and come on this forum to have a moan when it gets too much. Everyone on here knows how it feels. I once said to a DSN that i felt a failure when my BS goes out of target. Her reply was "Why? Its a fact of t1 that you'll have them and you're dealing with them. No one can be perfect all of the time. There are too many things that can affect it".

I used to try and go somewhere private to inject when i first started going out. Then one day i just thought, why should I, its nothing to be ashamed of? Initially if out i would choose somewhere to sit where i could inject discreetly at the table eg a corner seat but now i'll openly inject in public if needed. If others don't like it, tough, its a case of having to do it.

I am more aware of where i inject at work as i work with small children, even though they don't react when my libre alarm goes off (now i've explained it). At work, most staff know i'm t1 and know where my hypo treatments and snacks are if they ever needed to get them. I also make sure i have dextrose or JBs on or near me at all times.

It does take time to get used to but eventually you will get used to injecting around family and friends.
Click to expand...
Hi, thanks for your message!

Yes some days everything seems fine and other days it’s not and it’s so frustrating!

I think I just need more time (hopefully!) to get over the fear of injecting. I think the main issue for me is because of my job and being wary of injecting in a school environment so I basically just never do (meaning I don’t eat which isn’t good). I think I need help with this more than anything but I also just need help with feeling more confident, higher levels of self-esteem and hopefully will then also see and improvement to my social life and quality of life as a result as at the moment they’re all hugely affected!

Thanks again 🙂
 
sg295 said:
Hi, thanks for your message!

Yes some days everything seems fine and other days it’s not and it’s so frustrating!

I think I just need more time (hopefully!) to get over the fear of injecting. I think the main issue for me is because of my job and being wary of injecting in a school environment so I basically just never do (meaning I don’t eat which isn’t good). I think I need help with this more than anything but I also just need help with feeling more confident, higher levels of self-esteem and hopefully will then also see and improvement to my social life and quality of life as a result as at the moment they’re all hugely affected!

Thanks again 🙂
Click to expand...
Ask your nurse to put you down for a DAFNE course or whatever your local equivalent is. I really think it will help you to mix with other diabetics for a week as well as learn a huge amount and perhaps help you get your foot in the door for a pump. It may take some time to get on a course and if you are a teacher I expect you will hope to get one during the summer holidays. I had a choice of several dates for courses so that I could choose one that suited me.
It just really helps you to feel more normal being surrounded by a group of people who are all using insulin and facing the same challenges and frustrations. You learn so much from each other.
 
rebrascora said:
Ask your nurse to put you down for a DAFNE course or whatever your local equivalent is. I really think it will help you to mix with other diabetics for a week as well as learn a huge amount and perhaps help you get your foot in the door for a pump. It may take some time to get on a course and if you are a teacher I expect you will hope to get one during the summer holidays. I had a choice of several dates for courses so that I could choose one that suited me.
It just really helps you to feel more normal being surrounded by a group of people who are all using insulin and facing the same challenges and frustrations. You learn so much from each other.
Click to expand...
That’s a fab idea thank you, I’m going to speak to them next week about everything as it’s all a bit much so I will see if I can find out about that too 🙂
 
sg295 said:
Hi, thank you for this message!

Yeah I honestly wonder if that happens sometimes, like I will randomly go low with no obvious reason.

I have just had a hypo now (but only a very mild one I’m pleased to say and have treated it) and not entirely sure why. Although I have barely eaten today so could be the culprit! All I’ve had is a couple of pieces of toast all day which probably isn’t enough and then did some dancing around as well! Just been so busy and got distracted haha!

I have just been reading this message to someone else but I feel like this applies to me too and I honestly think a pump would suit me a million times better. It would enable me to fine tune things much more to stop me crashing after certain things and having these what I call ‘second spikes’ after other things where the amount I’ve taken doesn’t seem to contain it. I also think it would massively improve my confidence, mental health, self-esteem, social life, quality of life and career due to the fact that injections are severely negatively impacting all of these areas at the moment!

However, because I’m fairly new to it all (only 8 months in) and don’t explicitly meet the NICE criteria, I feel I may struggle to get one potentially? Still doesn’t hurt to ask I guess and see what happens.

I’m sorry to hear of your struggles! But equally it’s reassuring to know that this is really hard to deal with sometimes and unpredictable!

Thanks again and take care 🙂
Click to expand...
I’m also going to ask about a pump at my next appointment and I don’t meet the NICE guidelines either (but the fine tuning basal would help me) so you aren’t alone
 
sg295 said:
main issue for me is because of my job and being wary of injecting in a school environment
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I work in a school too. I agreed with the head certain places i could go to to inject. I have sometimes injected in the classroom when everyone has gone to lunch. Ask your head if there is anywhere you could use.
 
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